Editing apparatus, editing method, and program

ABSTRACT

An editing apparatus for performing editing in which a second video is added to or inserted into a first video, includes: an editing unit performing the editing; a generating unit generating a first electronic mark indicating characteristics of the first video, as an edited video electronic mark, which is an electronic mark indicating characteristics of an edited video obtained as the result of the editing; a detecting unit detecting, of the first electronic marks, a first electronic mark indicating characteristics of a first video corresponding to an editing section, as an invalid electronic mark; and a deleting unit deleting the invalid electronic mark from the edited video electronic marks.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present invention contains subject matter related to Japanese PatentApplication JP 2006-181323 filed in the Japanese Patent Office on JUNE30, 2006, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an editing apparatus, an editingmethod, and a program, and particularly relates to an editing apparatus,an editing method, and a program, whereby consistency of electronicmarks indicating the characteristics of a video can be completelyensured before and after editing of the video.

2. Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, linear editing such as Assemble Edit and Insert Edit hasbeen performed with editing apparatuses.

Now, linear editing will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A through1C.

In FIGS. 1A through 1C, let us say that data obtained by shooting video(including acquisition of audio) is being edited in increments of clips.Note that the term “clip” refers to, for example, video data obtained byshooting video one time (the processing of shooting video from the startof shooting to the end of shooting), and the audio data accompanying thevideo data. Also, in the following description, a clip #i represents aclip assigned i as a UMID (Unique Material Identifier). While the UMIDassigned to the clips in the following description will be one- ortwo-digit numbers for the sake of facilitating description, an actualUMID is a number created based on a method stipulated in the SMPTE(Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) 330M standard.

First, Assemble Edit will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A and1B.

Assemble Edit is editing wherein a sub-clip, which is a section of dataof a clip to be used for editing, is added to another clip.

As shown in FIG. 1A, let us say that a user specifies a section of aclip #2 to be taken as a sub-clip #2, and specifies the end position ofa clip #1 which is the start position of the editing section to serve asan in point. In this case, the editing apparatus performs Assemble Editwherein the sub-clip #2, which is data of a predetermined section of theclip #2, is added to the entirety of clip #1. Accordingly, followingdata from the start to the end of the clip #1, data from the start tothe end of the sub-clip #2 is recorded.

Also, as shown in FIG. 1B, let us say that a user specifies a section ofthe clip #2 to be taken as the sub-clip #2, and specifies the a desiredposition of the clip #1 to serve as the start position of the editingsection. In this case, in the event that a position on the clip #1corresponding to the end position of the sub-clip #2 does not existbetween the start position to the end position of the clip #1, theediting apparatus performs Assemble Edit wherein the sub-clip #2 isadded to a part of the clip #1. Accordingly, following data from thestart to the in point of the clip #1, data from the start to the end ofthe sub-clip #2 is recorded.

Next, Insert Edit will be described with reference to FIG. 1C.

Insert Edit is editing wherein a sub-clip of one clip is inserted intoanother clip by overwriting.

As shown in FIG. 1C, let us say that a user specifies a section of theclip #2 to be taken as the sub-clip #2, and specifies a desired positionof the clip #1 to serve as the start position of the editing section. Inthis case, in the event that a position on the clip #1 corresponding tothe end position of the sub-clip #2 exists between the start position tothe end position of the clip #1, the editing apparatus performs InsertEdit wherein the sub-clip #2 is inserted to the clip #1. Accordingly,data from the in point of the clip #1 is overwritten by the data fromthe start to the end of the sub-clip #2. That is to say, data from thestart to the end of the sub-clip #2 is inserted in a section from the inpoint of the clip #1 to a position therefrom by a distance equivalent tothe length of the sub-clip #2.

Next, description will be made regarding editing processing wherein theediting apparatus performs the Assemble Edit or Insert Edit describedwith reference to FIGS. 1A through 1C.

In step S1, the editing apparatus takes data of a section of clip #2,which the user desires, as a sub-clip #2, and the flow proceeds to stepS2.

In step S2, the editing apparatus determines an in point based on aposition within the clip #1 specified by the ser as the in point, andthe flow proceeds to step S3.

In step S3, the editing apparatus determines whether or not the in pointis the end position of the clip #1, i.e., whether or not the sub-clip #2is to be subjected to Assemble Edit to the entirety of the clip #1. Inthe event that determination is made that the in point is the endposition of the clip #1, the flow proceeds to step S4.

In step S4, the editing apparatus adds the sub-clip #2 to the clip #1.That is to say, the editing apparatus records the data from the start tothe end of the sub-clip #2, following the data from the start to the endof the clip #1. Thus, the editing apparatus performs the Assemble Editfor adding the sub-clip #2 to the entirety of the clip #1 as shown inFIG. 1A, by performing the processing of steps S1 through S4.

In step S3, in the event that determination is made that the in point isnot the end position of the clip #1, the flow proceeds to step S5, wherethe editing apparatus determines whether or not a position on the clip#1 corresponding to the end position of the sub-clip #2 exists betweenthe start position to the end position of the clip #1, i.e., whether ornot to perform Insert Edit.

In the event that determination is made in step S5 that the position onthe clip #1 corresponding to the end position of the sub-clip #2 doesnot exist between the start position to the end position of the clip #1,the flow proceeds to step S6, where the editing apparatus deletes thedata of the clip #1 from the in point to the end position, and proceedsto the above-described step S4. In step S4, the editing apparatus addsthe sub-clip #2 to the clip #1. Consequently, data from the start to theend of the sub-clip #2 is recorded following data from the start to thein point of the clip #1 following deletion.

Thus, the editing apparatus performs Assemble Edit wherein the sub-clip#2 is added to a part of the clip #1 as shown in FIG. 1B, by performingthe processing of steps S1, S2, S3, S5, and S6.

On the other hand, the event that determination is made in step S5 thatthe position on the clip #1 corresponding to the end position of thesub-clip #2 exists between the start position to the end position of theclip #1, the flow proceeds to step S7, where the editing apparatus takesa section on the clip #1 from the in point to a point of the clip #1corresponding to the end position of the sub-clip #2, i.e., a sectionfrom the in point to a position therefrom equivalent to the length ofthe sub-clip #2, as the editing section, and overwrites this editingsection with the sub-clip #2. Thus, the editing apparatus performsInsert Edit shown in FIG. 1C, by performing the processing of steps S1,S3, S5, and S7.

Now, in recent years, there are cases wherein metadata (e.g., electronicmarks indicating characters of video) indicating the contents orcharacteristics of video are recorded along with the video in therecording medium. In this case, the editing apparatus needs to processthe metadata when editing.

Accordingly, there is known a moving picture managing apparatus which,in the event that operations such as editing are performed regarding apart or all of moving pictures to which metadata has been applied,records information relating to the possibility that the metadata mightbecome invalid, thereby easily rectifying the metadata so as to beuseful following editing. An example of such an apparatus is describedin US Published Patent Application No. 2005/0027745.

Also, there is known an apparatus which, in the event that a recordedregion is overwritten by other video/audio data, index informationcorresponding to the overwritten video/audio data and index informationcorresponding to the other regions divided by the video/audio data whichis overwritten on the overwritten region are generated. An example ofsuch an apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,775,466.

On the other hand, there is known an apparatus which is capable ofediting index information for specifying thumbnail images which aid inediting. An example of such an apparatus is described in JapaneseUnexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-174043.

Note that index information is a basic sort of structure descriptionmetadata describing the way in which a program is structured, based onthe contents thereof, such as TOC (Table of Contents) data of a program,for satisfying requests to access certain positions of video or programsrecorded in a recording medium speedily.

This structure description metadata is not only used for access desiredpositions at high speeds as with a TOC, but also is used forauto-generating and transmitting sample clips or customized programsaccording to user requests, realizing partial access right control ofprograms, and so-called authoring wherein completed packets are copiedto packaged media.

Various methods have been conceived for generating such structuredescription metadata, as described in US Published Patent ApplicationNos. 2002/0199204 and 2005/0149557.

On the other hand, in recent years, various methods have been conceivedfor detecting cut points, representing positions where scenes in thevideo switch, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,719,643, Japanese UnexaminedPatent Application Publication No. 10-339051.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, with the moving image managing apparatus described in USPublished Patent Application No. 2005/0027745, metadata which is invalidfollowing editing the video remains recorded, so the validity ofmetadata has to be determined each time the metadata is referred to.Accordingly, the above-described moving image managing apparatus cannotbe said to have completely ensured consistency of metadata before andafter editing video.

There has been recognized the need to completely ensure consistency ofelectronic marks indicating the characteristics of video, before andafter editing the video.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an editingapparatus for performing editing in which a second video is added to orinserted into a first video, includes: an editing unit performing theediting; a generating unit generating a first electronic mark indicatingcharacteristics of the first video, as an edited video electronic mark,which is an electronic mark indicating characteristics of an editedvideo obtained as the result of the editing; a detecting unit detecting,of the first electronic marks, a first electronic mark indicatingcharacteristics of a first video corresponding to an editing section, asan invalid electronic mark; and a deleting unit deleting the invalidelectronic mark from the edited video electronic marks.

The generating unit may further generate a second electronic markindicating characteristics of the second video, as the edited videoelectronic mark.

The generating unit may further generate a section electronic mark whichis an electronic mark indicating at least one of a start position andend position of the editing section as characteristics of the editedvideo, as the edited video electronic mark.

The editing apparatus may further include a reception unit receivingoperations to specify a desired position for the edited video by a user;the generating unit generating a desired position electronic mark whichis an electronic mark indicating characteristics of the edited video atthe desired position, as the edited video electronic mark, in responseto the operations.

The first electronic mark may have added thereto succession informationrepresenting whether or not first electronic mark is to be succeeded inthe edited video; with the generating unit effecting succession of thecharacteristics indicated by, of the invalid electronic marks, aninvalid mark to which succession information representing succession inthe edited video has been added, as characteristics at a predeterminedposition of the edited video, and generates a succession electronic markindicating the characteristics as the edited video electronic mark.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an editing methodof an editing apparatus for performing editing in which a second videois added to or inserted into a first video, includes the steps of:performing the editing; generating a first electronic mark indicatingcharacteristics of the first video, as an edited video electronic mark,which is an electronic mark indicating characteristics of an editedvideo obtained as the result of the editing; detecting, of the firstelectronic marks, a first electronic mark indicating characteristics ofa first video corresponding to an editing section, as an invalidelectronic mark; and deleting the invalid electronic mark from theedited video electronic marks.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a program forcausing a computer to execute editing processing in which a second videois added to or inserted into a first video, includes the steps of:performing the editing; generating a first electronic mark indicatingcharacteristics of the first video, as an edited video electronic mark,which is an electronic mark indicating characteristics of an editedvideo obtained as the result of the editing; detecting, of the firstelectronic marks, a first electronic mark indicating characteristics ofa first video corresponding to an editing section, as an invalidelectronic mark; and deleting the invalid electronic mark from theedited video electronic marks.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, editing isperformed in which a second video is added to or inserted into a firstvideo, a first electronic mark indicating characteristics of the firstvideo is generated as an edited video electronic mark, which is anelectronic mark indicating characteristics of an edited video obtainedas the result of the editing, a first electronic mark indicatingcharacteristics of a first video corresponding to an editing section isdetected from the first electronic marks, as an invalid electronic mark,and the invalid electronic mark is deleted from the edited videoelectronic marks.

Thus, according to the configurations described above, consistency ofelectronic marks indicating the characteristics of video can becompletely ensured before and after editing the video.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A through 1C are diagrams illustrating examples of linearediting;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of known editing processing;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of anediting apparatus to which the present invention has been applied;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the editingapparatus;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for describing essence marks;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of essence mark data;

FIG. 7 is a diagram for describing Assemble Edit;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of editing result EM datagenerated upon performing the Assemble Edit in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagram for describing other Assemble Edit;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of editing result EM datagenerated upon performing the Assemble Edit in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram for describing Insert Edit;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of editing result EM datagenerated upon performing the Insert Edit in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a diagram for describing other Insert Edit;

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of editing result EM datagenerated upon performing the Insert Edit in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for describing editing processing;

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating another configuration example of anediting processing unit;

FIG. 17 is a diagram for describing non-destructive Assemble Edit;

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of editing descriptiondata;

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of editing result EM datagenerated upon performing the Assemble Edit in FIG. 17;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart for describing other editing processing;

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating another configuration example of anediting processing unit;

FIG. 22 is a diagram for describing other Insert Edit;

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an example of editing result EM datagenerated upon performing the Insert Edit in FIG. 22; and

FIG. 24 is a flowchart for describing yet other editing processing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Specific embodiments to which the present invention has been appliedwill be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example ofhardware of an editing apparatus 10 to which the present invention hasbeen applied. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 executes various typesof processing according to programs stored in ROM (Read Only Memory) 12or a recording unit 18. for example, the CPU 11 performs editing onclips recorded in an optical disc 21.

RAM (Random Access Memory) 13 stores programs to be executed by the CPU11, data, and so forth, as suitable. The CPU 11, ROM 12, and RAM 13 areconnected one with another by a bus 14.

Also connected to the CPU 11 is an input/output interface 15, via thebus 14. Connected to the input/output interface 15 are an input unit 16made up of a keyboard, mouse, microphone, reception unit for receivingcommand transmitted from an unshown memory controller, and so forth, andan output unit 17 made up of a display speaker, and so forth. The CPU 11executes various types of processing in response to commands input fromthe input unit 16. The CPU 11 then outputs the results of processing tothe output unit 17.

The recording unit 18 connected to the input/output interface 15 isconfigured of a hard disk for example, and records programs to beexecuted by the CPU 11, and various types of data. The programs may bestored beforehand, or may be obtained via a communication unit 19 andrecorded in the recording unit 18.

Also, the communication unit 19 connected to the input/output interface15 communicates with external devices, via network such as the Internet,a Local Area Network, or the like. For example, the communication unit19 receives clips obtained as the result of an external device shootingvideo. The received clips are recorded on an optical disc 21 by a drive20.

Further, the drive 20 connected to the input/output interface 15 drivesdiscs mounted thereto, so as to record clips therein, or obtain clipsrecorded therein. The obtained clips are output to, for example, theoutput unit 17.

A drive 22 connected to the input/output interface 15 drives removablemedia 23 such as magnetic disks, optical discs, magento-optical disks,semiconductor memory, or the like, mounted thereto, and obtains programsor data recorded therein. The obtained programs and data are transferredto the recording unit 18 as necessary, and recorded.

Next, with the editing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 3, the CPU 11functions as an editing processing unit for editing clips, by executinga predetermined program.

FIG. 4 illustrates a functional configuration example of such an editingprocessing unit.

The editing processing unit 40 is configured of an editing unit 41,generating unit 42, detecting unit 43, deleting unit 44, and receptionunit 45, and performs linear editing (destructive editing).

The editing unit 41 subjects clips recorded in the optical disc 21 toAssemble Edit or Insert Edit of sub-clips of new clips, in response tocontrol signals corresponding to commands input from the input unit 16shown in FIG. 3 and supplied from the reception unit 45.

Clips corresponding to the sub-clips to be edited are received from thevideo shooting device via the communication unit 19, for example. Notethat in the vent that the editing device 10 has a video shooting unitfor shooting video, an arrangement may be made wherein data of apredetermined section of a clip obtained as the result of shooting videowith the video shooting unit is taken as a sub-clip.

The generating unit 42 takes an essence mark (electronic mark)indicating the characteristics of video of a clip to be edited that isrecorded in the optical disc 21 (such a clip will hereafter be referredto as “clip to be edited” as appropriate, and such an essence mark willhereafter be referred to as “editing clip EM” as appropriate), and inresponse of control signals supplied from the reception unit 45, assignsthe editing clip EM, without change, to the editing result clip, as anessence mark (electronic mark) indicating the characteristics of videoof a clip obtained as the result of editing (such a clip will hereafterbe referred to as “editing result clip” as appropriate, and such anessence mark will hereafter be referred to as “editing result EM” or“edited video electronic mark” as appropriate).

Also, the generating unit 42 takes an essence mark indicating thecharacteristics of video of a sub-clip to be edited (hereafter bereferred to as “sub-clip EM” as appropriate), and in response of controlsignals supplied from the reception unit 45, assigns this to an editingresult clip as an editing result EM. Further, the generating unit 42newly generates an essence mark indicating at least one of the startposition and end position of an editing section as the characteristicsof the edited vide (hereafter referred to as “cut point EM” or “sectionelectronic mark”), and in response of control signals supplied from thereception unit 45, assigns this to the editing result clip as an editingresult EM.

Further, based on control signals corresponding to operations at theinput unit 16 performed by the user to specify a desired position for aclip or sub-clip to be edited and characteristics of the video at thatposition, received from the reception unit 45, the generating unit 42newly generates an essence mark which is assigned to the predeterminedposition and indicates the characteristics of the video at that position(hereafter referred to as “desired position EM”), and assigns this tothe editing result clip as an editing result EM. Also, the generatingunit 42 generates essence mark data describing an editing result EM(hereafter referred to as “editing result EM data”) and records this incorrelation with the editing result clip.

The detecting unit 43 detects, of editing clip EMs other than an editingclip EM indicating the start position of the clip to be edited, and anediting clip EM indicating the characteristics of video as to theediting section, as an invalid EM which will become invalid followingediting, in response of control signals supplied from the reception unit45. The detecting unit 43 supplies information for identifying thedetected invalid EM to the deleting unit 44.

The deleting unit 44 deletes the description of invalid EMs from theediting result EM data generated by the generating unit 42, based on theinformation for identifying invalid EMs that is supplied from thedetecting unit 43.

The reception unit 45 receives commands input from the input unit 16,and supplies control signals corresponding to the commands to theediting unit 41, generating unit 42, and detecting unit 43.

Next, essence marks will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

Let us say that in FIG. 5, clip #5 is a clip of 1,800 frames (oneminute) obtained by shooting a scene of a baseball game where Nichiro isplaying as a player, and hits a homerun.

In the example in FIG. 5, first, at the time of starting shooting ofclip #5, a first essence mark indicating “REC start (start position)” isassigned to the 0'th frame as the characteristic thereof, which is thestart position of the clip #5.

Next, ⅓ seconds after shooting of the clip #5 starts which is whenshooting starts of the video of the second inning of the baseball gamestarting, operating the input unit 16 to instruct assigning of a secondessence mark indicating “top of the second inning” as the characteristicof the video causes the second essence mark indicating “top of thesecond inning” as the characteristic thereof to be assigned to the 10'thframe of the clip #5.

Next, 10 seconds after shooting of the clip #5 starts which is when thevideo of Nichiro entering the batter's box is short, operating the inputunit 16 to instruct assigning of an essence mark indicating “Nichiro tobatter's box” as the characteristic of the video causes a third essencemark indicating “Nichiro to batter's box” as the characteristic thereofto be assigned to the 300'th frame of the clip #5.

Next, 50 seconds after shooting of the clip #5 starts which is when thevideo of Nichiro hitting a homerun is short, operating the input unit 16to instruct assigning of an essence mark indicating “Nichiro homerun” asthe characteristic of the video causes a fourth essence mark indicating“Nichiro homerun” as the characteristic thereof to be assigned to the1500'th frame of the clip #5.

Thus, four essence marks are assigned to the clip #5 shown in FIG. 5.Note that with the example in FIG. 5, the user assigns essence marks,but an arrangement may be made wherein the user causes the clip #5 to bedisplayed on the output unit 17 following shooting of the clip #5, andcommand assigning of essence marks at desired timings while watchingthis clip #5.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of essence mark data describing theessence marks in FIG. 5.

Note that the essence mark data in the example in FIG. 6 is described inXML (eXtensible Markup Language). Also, the numerals at the beginning ofeach line in FIG. 6 have been added only for the purpose of explanationto be made here, and are not part of the XML description. The same holdstrue for the later-described FIGS. 8, 10, 12, 14, and 19 as well.

As shown in FIG. 6, the XML description of essence mark data isprimarily configured of an essence mark table portion defined by essencemark table tags (<EssenceMarkTable> </EssenceMarkTable>). In the exampleshown in FIG. 6, this essence mark table is described in lines 1 through6.

In line 1, targetEssence=“Clip5” indicates that the essence mark data isessence mark data describing an essence mark to be assigned to the clip#5. While the expression “Clip5” is used here in this example, inreality, a UMID assigned to clip #5 will be described here.

Specifically, the essence mark table portion includes a list ofinformation of all essence marks assigned to the clip #5. In the examplein FIG. 6, the EssenceMark element corresponds to each essence mark,with the value attribute identifying the characteristic indicated by theessence mark, and the frameCount attribute indicating the position wherethe essence mark is assigned, in terms of how many frames from the startof the clip.

For example, the description

EssenceMark value=“RECstart” frameCount=“0”/

at Line 2 in FIG. 6 indicates that the characteristic of the essencemark is the REC start (start position), and that the assigned positionthereof is the 0'th frame from the start of the clip #5. That is to say,the description in Line 2 indicates the first essence mark in FIG. 5.

In the same way, the description

EssenceMark value=“top of the second inning”

frameCount=“10”/

at Line 3 indicates the second essence mark, the description EssenceMarkvalue=“Nichiro to batter's box” frameCount=“300”/

at Line 4 indicates the third essence mark, and the description

EssenceMark value=“Nichiro homerun” frameCount=“1500”/

at Line 5 indicates the fourth essence mark.

Thus, the essence mark data in FIG. 6 describes the first through fourthessence marks assigned to the clip #5. Note that this essence mark datamay be received from the video shooting device, and/or recorded in theoptical disc 21, in a manner correlated with the clip #5.

Next, editing performed by the editing unit 41 shown in FIG. 4, and theediting result EM data generated by the generating unit 42 inconjunction therewith will be described with reference to FIGS. 7through 14.

FIGS. 7 through 10 are diagram describing Assemble Edit performed by theediting unit 41, and editing result EM data generated by the generatingunit 42 in conjunction therewith.

Note that in the example in FIG. 7, the clip #11 has an editing clip EMindicating “REC Start” as the characteristic assigned to the 0'th frame,while no sub-clip EMs are assigned to sub-clip #12 through sub-clip#n+1.

In the example in FIG. 7, first, a section to be taken as the sub-clip#12 is specified from the clip #12 by operating the input unit 19, and acommand is given to specify the end point of a clip #1 of ADur(11) framethat has already been recorded in the optical disc 21, as an in point.

The editing unit 41 performs Assemble Edit wherein the sub-clip #12 ofthe Dur(12) frame is added to the clip #11 of the ADur(11) frame, andthe data obtained as the result thereof is taken as a single editingresult clip having a continuous time code, in response to controlsignals corresponding to the command.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 7, the generating unit 42 assigns anediting clip EM indicating “REC Start” to the 0'th frame of the editingresults clip with no change, as an editing result EM. Also, thegenerating unit 42 newly generates a cut point EM indicating the startposition of the editing section, and assigns this to the ADur(11)'thframe of the editing result clip, which is the start position of theediting section specified by the user as an in point, as an editingresult EM.

Now, ADur(i) represents the number of frames of a clip #i, and Dur(i)represents the number of frames of a sub-clip #i.

Next, the user specifies a section to be taken as a sub-clip #13 fromthe clip #13, and takes the editing result clip obtained by the previousAssemble Edit recorded in the optical disc 21, i.e., the editing resultclip obtained as the result of the sub-clip #12 having been added to theclip #11, as a clip to be edited, an further gives a command to specifythe end position of the clip to be edited, as an in point. The editingunit 41 performs Assemble Edit wherein the sub-clip #13 is added to theediting result clip obtained by the previous Assemble Edit, in responseto control signals corresponding to that command, and takes the dataobtained as the result thereof as a single editing result clip.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 7, the generating unit 42 newly generatesa cut point EM indicating the start position of the editing section, andassigns this to the ADur(11)+Dur(12)'th frame which is the startposition of the editing section, specified by the user as an in point.

Subsequently, in the same way, the user gives a command to specify asection to be taken as sub-clips from clip #14 through clip #n+1, andtakes the end position of the editing result clip obtained by theprevious Assemble Edit as an in point. The editing unit 41 thus performsAssemble Edit for clip #14 through clip #n+1 in order, and the dataobtained as the result thereof is taken as an editing result clip #L₁.

Also, along with this Assemble Edit, cut point EMs indicating the startposition of editing sections are assigned in order to the startpositions of the editing sections specified by the user as in points ofthe editing result clip, as editing result EMs.

FIG. 8 shows editing result EM data describing the editing result EMassigned to the editing result clip L₁ as described above.

In line 1 in FIG. 8, targetEssence=“ClipL₁” is described, thisdescription indicating that the editing result EM data is editing resultEM data describing editing result EMs to be assigned to the editingresult clip #L₁.

Also, the description

EssenceMark value=“RECstart” frameCount=“0”/

at Line 2 in FIG. 8 indicates that the characteristic of the editingresult EM is the REC start (start position), and that the assignedposition thereof is the 0'th frame of the editing result clip #L₁.

Also, the description

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“ADur(11)”/

at Line 3 in FIG. 8 indicates that the characteristic of the editingresult EM is a “cut point”, and that the assigned position thereof isthe ADur(11)'th frame from the start, i.e., the start position of theediting section specified by the user as the in point at the time ofperforming Assemble Edit of the sub-clip #12.

Also, the description

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“ADur(11)+Dur(12)”/

at Line 4 in FIG. 8 indicates that the characteristic of the editingresult EM is a “cut point”, and that the assigned position thereof isthe ADur(11)+Dur(12)'th frame from the start, i.e., the start positionof the editing section specified by the user as the in point at the timeof performing Assemble Edit of the sub-clip #13.

Subsequently, cut point EMs are described in the same way as editingresult EMs, and finally, the description

EssenceMark value=“cut point”

frameCount=“ADur(11)+Dur(12)+ . . . +Dur(n)”/

at Line 5 in FIG. 8 indicates that the characteristic of the editingresult EM is a “cut point”, and that the assigned position thereof isthe ADur(11)+Dur(12)+ . . . +Dur(n)'th frame from the start, i.e., thestart position of the editing section specified by the user as the inpoint at the time of performing Assemble Edit of the sub-clip #n+1.

While FIGS. 7 and 8 have been described with an example wherein nosub-clip EMs are assigned to the sub-clips #12 through n+1 to be edited,there are cases that sub-clip EMs are assigned to the sub-clips to beedited. An example of such a case will be described with reference toFIGS. 9 and 10.

That is to say, with the example in FIG. 9, a clip #23 corresponding toa sub-clip #23 to be edited is a clip obtained as a result of shooting ascene of a baseball game where Nichiro is playing as a player, and hitsa homerun. A sub-clip EM indicating “Nichiro homerun” as thecharacteristic is assigned at the offset(23)'th frame from the start ofthe sub-clip #23 within the sub-clip #23 section of the clip #23. Notethat the clip #21 is assigned with an editing clip EM indicating “RECStart” as a characteristic at the 0'th frame beforehand.

In the example in FIG. 9, the user first operates the input unit 19 tospecify the sub-clip #22 of the clip #22 as a section, and gives acommand for specifying the end point of the clip #21 of ADur(21) frames,already recorded in the optical disc 21, as an in point.

The editing unit 41 performs Assemble Edit wherein the sub-clip #22 ofDur(22) frames is added to the clip #21 of ADur(21) frames, in responseto control signals corresponding to that command, and takes the dataobtained as the result thereof as a single editing result clip.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 9, the generating unit 42 assigns anediting clip EM indicating “REC Start” to the 0'th frame of the editingresults clip with no change, as an editing result EM. Also, thegenerating unit 42 newly generates a cut point EM indicating the startposition of the editing section, and assigns this to the ADur(21)'thframe which is the start position of the editing section, specified bythe user as an in point.

Next, the user specifies a section to be taken as a sub-clip #23 fromthe clip #23, and gives a command to specify the end position of theediting result clip obtained by the previous Assemble Edit recorded inthe optical disc 21, i.e., the editing result clip obtained as theresult of the sub-clip #22 having been added to the clip #21, as an inpoint. The editing unit 41 performs Assemble Edit wherein the sub-clip#23 is added to the editing result clip obtained by the previousAssemble Edit, in response to control signals corresponding to thatcommand, and takes the data obtained as the result thereof as a singleediting result clip L₂.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 9, the generating unit 42 newly generatesa cut point EM indicating the start position of the editing section, andassigns this to the ADur(21)+Dur(22)'th frame of the editing result clip#L₂, which is the start position of the editing section, specified bythe user as an in point, as an editing result EM. Also, the generatingunit 42 assigns a sub-clip EM indicating “Nichiro homerun” which isassigned to a corresponding position on the editing result clip #L₂,i.e., is assigned to the editing result clip #L₂ at the position of theoffset(23)'th frame from the ADur(21)+Dur(22)'th frame from the start ofthe clip #L₂ which is the start position of the sub-clip #23, as anediting result EM.

Thus, in the event that a sub-clip EM has already been assigned to thesub-clip #23 which is to be subjected to Assemble Edit, the generatingunit 42 assigns that sub-clip EM as an editing result EM at the positionof the editing result clip #L₂ corresponding to the position in thesub-clip #23 to which it was assigned. Thus, the sub-clip EM alreadyassigned to the sub-clip #23 which is the object of Assemble Edit can besucceeded to the editing result clip #L₂ obtained as a result of editingthereof. Consequently, consistency of essence marks can be ensuredbefore and after Assemble Edit.

FIG. 10 shows editing result EM data describing the editing result EMassigned to the editing result clip L₂ as described above.

In line 1 in FIG. 10, targetEssence=“ClipL₂” is described, thisdescription indicating that the editing result EM data is editing resultEM data describing editing result EMs to be assigned to the editingresult clip #L₂.

Also, the description

EssenceMark value=“RECstart” frameCount=“0”/

at Line 2 in FIG. 10 indicates that the characteristic of the editingresult EM is the REC start, and that the assigned position thereof isthe 0'th frame from the start of the editing result clip #L₂.

Further, the description

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“ADur(21)”/

at Line 3 in FIG. 10 indicates that the characteristic of the editingresult EM is a “cut point”, and that the assigned position thereof isthe ADur(21)'th frame from the start, i.e., the start position of theediting section specified by the user as the in point at the time ofperforming Assemble Edit of the sub-clip #22.

In the same way, the description

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“ADur(21)+Dur(22)”/

at Line 4 in FIG. 10 indicates that the characteristic of the editingresult EM is a “cut point”, and that the assigned position thereof isthe ADur(21)+Dur(22)'th frame from the start, i.e., the start positionof the editing section specified by the user as the in point at the timeof performing Assemble Edit of the sub-clip #23.

The description

EssenceMark value=“Nichiro homerun”

frameCount=“ADur(21)+Dur(22)+offset(23)”/

at Line 5 in FIG. 10 indicates that the characteristic of the editingresult EM is “Nichiro homerun”, and that the assigned position thereofis the

ADur(21)+Dur(22)+offset(23)'th frame from the start, i.e., theoffset(23)'th frame from start position sub-clip #23 on the editingresult clip #L₂.

FIGS. 11 through 14 are diagrams for describing Insert Edit-by theediting unit 41, and editing result EM data generated by the generatingunit 42 in conjunction therewith.

Note that in the example in FIG. 11, the clip #31 is a clip obtained asa result of shooting a scene of a baseball game where Nichiro is playingas a player, and hits a homerun. Let us say that the clip #31 has anediting clip EM indicating “REC Start” as the characteristic assigned tothe 0'th frame, and an editing clip indicating “Nichiro homerun”assigned beforehand to the Mark(31)'th frame which is a position withinthe editing section, while no sub-clip EM is assigned to the sub-clip#32.

In the example in FIG. 11, first, a section to be taken as the sub-clip#32 is specified from the clip #32 by the user operating the input unit19, and a command is given to specify the Position of the In(31)'thframe of the clip #31, that has already been recorded in the opticaldisc 21, as an in point. In response to control signals corresponding tothe command, the editing unit 41 performs Insert Edit for inserting thesub-clip #32 configured of Dur(32) frames to the clip #31, and takes thedata obtained as a result thereof as a single editing result clip L₃.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 11, the generating unit 42 assigns theediting clip EMs indicating “REC Start” and “Nichiro homerun” withoutchange to the editing result clip #L₃, as editing result EMs. Also, thegenerating unit 42 newly generates a cut point EM indicating the startposition of the editing section, and assigns the cut point EM to theIn(31)'th frame which is the start position of the editing section,specified by the user as an in point.

Also, the generating unit 42 newly generates a cut point EM indicatingthe end position of the editing section, and assigns the cut point EM tothe end position of the editing section which is a position on theediting result clip #L₃ following the in point by a duration equivalentto the length of the sub-clip #32, i.e., the position of theIn(31)+Dur(32)'th frame from the in point, as an editing result EM. Thegenerating unit 42 generates editing result EM data describing theediting result EMs assigned to the editing result clip L₃.

Also, the detecting unit 43 detects, of the editing clips EM other thanthe editing clip EM indicating “REC Start” which is the start positionof the clip to be edited, the editing clip EM indicating“Nichiro-homerun” assigned to the Mark(31)'th frame, which is an editingclip indicating the characteristic of the video corresponding to theediting section, as an invalid EM which will be come invalid followingediting. The deleting unit 44 deletes the description of the invalid EMfrom the editing result EM data generated by the generating unit 42.

Thus, the deleting unit takes an editing clip EM positioned within anediting section which is to be overwritten by the sub-clip #32 as aninvalid EM and deletes the description of the invalid EM from theediting result EM data, so consistency of essence marks can becompletely ensured before and after Insert Edit.

FIG. 12 shows the editing result EM data following description of theinvalid EM having been deleted as described above.

In line 1 in FIG. 12, targetEssence=“ClipL₃” is described, thisdescription indicating that the editing result EM data is editing resultEM data describing editing result EMs to be assigned to the editingresult clip #L₃.

Also, the description

EssenceMark value=“RECstart” frameCount=“0”/

at Line 2 in FIG. 12 indicates that the characteristic of the editingresult EM is “REC Start”, and that the assigned position thereof is the0'th frame from the start of the editing result clip #L₃.

Further, the description

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“In(31)”/

at Line 3 in FIG. 12 indicates that the characteristic of the editingresult EM is a “cut point”, and that the assigned position thereof isthe In(31)'th frame from the start, i.e., the start position of theediting section specified by the user as the in point at the time ofperforming Insert Edit of the sub-clip #32.

In the same way, the description

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“In(31)+Dur(32)”/

at Line 4 in FIG. 12 indicates that the characteristic of the editingresult EM is a “cut point”, and that the assigned position thereof isthe In(31)+Dur(32)'th frame from the start, i.e., the end position ofthe editing section.

While description has been made regarding a case wherein no sub-clip EMis assigned to the sub-clip #32 to be edited in the above-describedFIGS. 11 and 12, there are cases that sub-clip EMs are assigned to thesub-clips to be edited. An example of such a case will be described withreference to FIGS. 13 and 14.

That is to say, with the example in FIG. 13, a clip #42 corresponding toa sub-clip #42 to be edited is a clip obtained as a result of shooting ascene of a baseball game where Nichiro is playing as a player, and hitsa homerun. A sub-clip EM indicating “Nichiro homerun” as thecharacteristic is assigned at the offset(42)'th frame from the start ofthe sub-clip #42 within the sub-clip #42 section of the clip #42. Notethat the clip #41 is assigned with an editing clip EM indicating “RECStart” as a characteristic at the 0'th frame beforehand.

In the example in FIG. 13, the user first operates the input unit 19 tospecify the sub-clip #42 of the clip #42 as a section, and gives acommand for specifying the position of the In(41)'th frame of the clip#41, already recorded in the optical disc 21, as an in point. Theediting unit 41 performs Insert Edit wherein the sub-clip #42 of Dur(42)frames is inserted into the clip #41, in response to control signalscorresponding to that command, and takes the data obtained as the resultthereof as a single editing result clip #L₄.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 13, the generating unit 42 assigns anediting clip EM indicating “REC Start” to the 0'th frame of the editingresults clip with no change, as an editing result EM. Also, thegenerating unit 42 newly generates a cut point EM indicating the startposition of the editing section, and assigns this as an editing resultclip to the In(41)'th frame which is the start position of the editingsection of the editing result clip #L₄, specified by the user as an inpoint.

Also, the generating unit 42 newly generates a cut point EM indicatingthe end position of the editing section, and assigns the cut point EM tothe end position of the editing section which is a position on theediting result clip #L₄ following the in point by a duration equivalentto the length of the sub-clip #42, i.e., the position of theIn(41)+Dur(42)'th frame from the in point, as an editing result EM.

Also, the generating unit 42 assigns a sub-clip EM indicating “Nichirohomerun”, which is assigned to the offset(42)'th frame of the sub-clip#42, to a corresponding position on the editing result clip #L₄, i.e.,to the editing result clip #L₄ at the position of the offset(42)'thframe from the In(41)'th frame from the start of the clip #L₄ which isthe start position of the sub-clip #42, as an editing result EM.

Thus, in the event that a sub-clip EM has already been assigned to thesub-clip #42 which is to be subjected to Insert Edit, the generatingunit 42 assigns that sub-clip EM as an editing result EM at the positionof the editing result clip #L₄ corresponding to the position in the clip#423 to which it was assigned, in the same way as with Assemble Edit.Thus, the sub-clip EM already assigned to the sub-clip #42 which is theobject of Insert Edit can be succeeded to the editing result clip #L₄obtained as a result of editing thereof.

FIG. 14 shows editing result EM data describing the editing result EMassigned to the editing result clip L₄ as described above.

In line 1 in FIG. 14, targetEssence=“ClipL₄” is described, thisdescription indicating that the editing result EM data is editing resultEM data describing editing result EMs to be assigned to the editingresult clip #L₄.

Also, the description

EssenceMark value=“RECstart” frameCount=“0”/

at Line 2 in FIG. 14 indicates that the characteristic of the editingresult EM is the REC start, and that the assigned position thereof isthe 0'th frame of the editing result clip #L₄.

Further, the description

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“In(41)”/

at Line 3 in FIG. 14 indicates that the characteristic of the editingresult EM is a “cut point”, and that the assigned position thereof isthe In(41)'th frame from the start, i.e., the start position of theediting section specified by the user as the in point at the time ofperforming Insert Edit of the sub-clip #42.

Also, the description

EssenceMark value=“Nichiro homerun” frameCount=“In(41)+offset(42)”/

at Line 4 in FIG. 14 indicates that the characteristic of the editingresult EM is “Nichiro homerun”, and that the assigned position thereofis the In(41)+offset(42)'th frame from the start, i.e., theoffset(42)'th frame from the start position sub-clip #42 on the editingresult clip #L₄.

Further, the description

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“In(41)+Dur(42)”/

at Line 5 in FIG. 14 indicates that the characteristic of the editingresult EM is a “cut point”, and that the assigned position thereof isthe In(41)+Dur(42)'th frame from the start, i.e., the end position ofthe editing section.

Next, editing processing at the time of the editing processing unit 40shown in FIG. 4 performing Assemble Edit or Insert Edit on a clip willbe described with reference to FIG. 5. This editing processing isstarted when a user specifies a clip to be edited, for example.

In step S31, the editing unit 41 takes data of a desired section of adesired clip as a sub-clip, in response to control signals correspondingto commands input by a user at the input unit 16, which are suppliedfrom the reception unit 45. Note that in the event that the useroperates the input unit 16 but does not input information relating to adesired section, the desired clip itself is taken as the sub-clip.

Following the processing in step S31, the flow proceeds to step S32,where the generating unit 42 generates essence mark data of sub-clip EMs(hereafter referred to “sub-clip EM data”), based on the essence markdata in the clip corresponding to the sub-clip.

For example, in the event of performing the Assemble Edit shown in FIG.9, the generating unit 42 takes, of the essence marks described in theessence mark data of the clip #23, the essence mark indicating “Nichirohomerun” which is assigned to a position within the sub-clip #23, as asub-clip EM. Note that in the essence mark data of the clip #23, theposition to which the essence mark indicating “Nichiro homerun” isassigned is represented in terms of the number of frames from the startof the clip #23, so the generating unit 42 changes the position to whichthe sub-clip EM is assigned so as to be represented in terms of thenumber of frames from the start of the sub-clip #23.

The generating unit 42 then generates sub-clip EM data in which isdescribed

EssenceMark value=“Nichiro homerun” frameCount=“offset(23)”/

indicating the sub-clip EM, at the essence mark table portion.

Following the processing instep S32, the flow proceeds to step S33,where the editing unit 41 determines an in point based on the positionwithin the clip to be edited which has been specified by the user as anin point, and the flow proceeds to step S34.

In step S34, the generating unit 42 reflects the section from the startto the in point of the clip to be edited in the sub-clip EM datagenerated in step S32. Specifically, the generating unit 42 moves theposition at which the sub-clip EM is assigned, as described in thesub-clip EM data, to a later position, by an amount equivalent to thatfrom the head of the clip to be edited to the in point.

For example, in the event that the Assemble Edit shown in FIG. 9 is tobe performed, the generating unit 42 changes the value offset(23) of theattribute framecount in the description

EssenceMark value=“Nichiro to batter's box”

frameCount=“offset(23)”/

of the sub-clip EM data generated in step S32, to a valueADur(21)+Dur(22)+offset(23), which is the number of frames of thesection ADur(21)+Dur(22) which is, from the start to the in point, addedto the offset(23).

In step S35, the editing unit 41 determines whether or not the inputpoint is the end position of the clip to be edited, i.e., whether or notperform Assemble Edit as to the entirety of the clip to be edited, andin the event that determination is made that the input point is the endposition of the clip to be edited, the flow proceeds to step S36.

In step S36, the editing unit 41 performs Assemble Edit wherein thesub-clip to be edited is added to the clip to be edited. After theprocessing in step S36, the flow proceeds to step S37, where thegenerating unit 42 describes an in point, i.e., a cut point EM of whichthe assigning position is the frame following the final frame of theclip to be edited, at the end of the essence mark table portion of theediting clip EM essence data (hereafter referred to as “editing clip EMdata”) recorded in the optical disc 21 in a manner correlated with theclip to be edited.

For example, in the case of performing the Assemble Edit shown in FIG.9, the generating unit 42 adds a description

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“ADur(21)”/

indicating the cut point EM having as the assigned position thereof theADur(21)'th frame specified by the user as an in point, for example,after the last description

EssenceMark value=“REC Start” frameCount=“0”/

of the editing clip EM data.

After the processing in step S37, the flow proceeds to step S38, wherethe generating unit 42 adds, to the end of the essence mark tableportion of the editing clip EM data described in step S37, the contentsof the essence mark table portion of the sub-clip EM data obtained asthe result of the reflection in step S34, thereby generating editingresult EM data. Consequently, in the case of performing the AssembleEdit shown in FIG. 9, for example, the editing result EM data shown inFIG. 10 is generated. This editing result EM data is recorded in theoptical disc 21 in a manner correlated with the editing result clip.

On the other hand, in the event that determination is made in step S35that the in point is not the end position of the clip to be edited, theflow proceeds to step S39, where th editing unit 41 determines whetheror not the position on the clip to be edited corresponding to the endposition of the sub-clip to be edited is somewhere between the startposition to the end position of the clip to be edited, i.e., whether ornot to perform Insert Edit.

In step S39, in the event that determination is made that position onthe clip to be edited corresponding to the end position of the sub-clipto be edited is not between the start position and the end position ofthe clip to be edited, the flow proceeds to step S40, and the editingunit 41 deletes the data of the clip to be edited between the in pointto the end position, and the flow proceeds to step S41.

In step S41, the detecting unit 43 detects, of the editing clip EMsother than the editing clip EM indicating the start position of the clipto be edited that are described in the editing clip EM data of the clipto be edited, editing clip EMs assigned to data corresponding to theediting section from the in point to the position on the clip to beedited corresponding to the end position of the sub-clip, as invalidEMs, and supplies information for identifying the invalid EMS to thedeleting unit 44, and the flow proceeds to step S42.

In step S42, the deleting unit 44 deletes the description of the invalidEMs from the editing clip EM data of the clip to be edited, based oninformation for identifying invalid EMs from the detecting unit 43, andthe flow proceeds to the above-described step S36.

On the other hand, in the event that determination is made in step S39that position on the clip to be edited corresponding to the end positionof the sub-clip to be edited exists between the start position and theend position of the clip to be edited, the flow proceeds to step S43,and the editing unit 41 overwrites the editing section up to theposition on the clip to be edited corresponding to the end position ofthe sub-clip, with the sub-clip. That is to say, the editing unit 41performs Insert Edit of the sub-clip to the clip to be edited.

Following the processing in step S43, the flow proceeds to step S44,where the generating unit 42 describes cut point EMs having as theassigned positions thereof the start position and end position of theediting section, to predetermined positions in the essence mark tableportion of the editing clip EM data of the clip to be edited.

For example, in the event of performing the Insert Edit shown in FIG.11, the generating unit 42 describes the description

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“In(31)”/

indicating a cut point EM having as the assigned position thereof theIn(31)'th frame, which is the start position of the editing section, andthe description

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“In(31)+Dur(32)”/

indicating a cut point EM having as the assigned position thereof theIn(31)+Dur(32)'th frame, which is the end position of the editingsection, after the last description

EssenceMark value=“REC Start” frameCount=“0”/

of the editing clip EM data.

After the processing in step S44, the flow proceeds to step S45 where,in the same way as with step S41, the detecting unit 43 detects, of theediting clip EMs other than the editing clip EM indicating the startposition of the clip to be edited that are described in the editing clipEM data of the clip to be edited, editing clip EMs assigned to datacorresponding to the editing section, as invalid EMs.

For example, in the event of performing the Insert Edit shown in FIG.11, the detecting unit 43 detects, of the editing clip EMs other thanthe editing clip EM “REC Start” that are described in the editing clipEM data of the clip #31, the editing clip EM indicating “Nichirohomerun” assigned to the data corresponding to the editing section, asan invalid EM. The detecting unit 43 then supplies information to thedeleting unit 44 for identifying the invalid EM.

After the processing in step S45, the flow proceeds to step S46 wherethe deleting unit 44 deletes the description of the invalid EMs from theediting clip EM data of the clip to be edited, based on information foridentifying invalid EMs from the detecting unit 43, in the same way aswith step S42, and the flow proceeds to step S47.

In step S47, the generating unit 42 inserts the contents of the essencemark table portion of the sub-clip EM data to a position within theessence mark table portion of the editing clip EM data corresponding tothe editing section, thereby generating editing result EM data.

For example, in the case that the Insert Edit shown in FIG. 13 has beenperformed, the description

EssenceMark value=“Nichiro homerun”

frameCount=“In(31)+offset(42)”/

In the essence mark table portion of the sub-clip EM data is insertedbetween the description

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“In(41)”/

and the description

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“In(41)+Dur(42)”/

Corresponding to the editing section within the essence mark tableportion of the editing clip EM data, thereby generating the editingresult EM data shown in FIG. 14. The editing result EM data is recordedin the optical disc 21 in a manner correlated with the editing resultclip.

As described above, with the editing processing unit 40, the generatingunit 42 assigns editing clip EMs with no change to the editing resultclip as editing result EMs. The detecting unit 43 detects editing clipEMs indicating the characteristics of video corresponding to the editingsection, as invalid EMs, and the deleting unit 44 deletes thedescription of invalid EMs from the editing result ME data. Accordingly,consistency of essence marks can be completely ensured before and afterediting.

FIG. 16 illustrates another functional configuration example of anediting processing unit.

The editing processing unit 60 shown in FIG. 16 is configured of agenerating unit 42, detecting unit 43, deleting unit 44, reception unit45, and editing unit 61, and performs non-linear editing(non-destructive editing). Components the same as those in FIG. 4 aredenoted with the same reference numerals, and description thereof willbe omitted.

The editing unit 61 generates editing description data (shown in thelater-described FIG. 18) representing the contents of Assemble Edit orInsert Edit, in response to control signals corresponding to commandsinput from the input unit 16 shown in FIG. 3, that are supplied from thereception unit 45, thereby performing non-destructive Assemble Edit orInsert Edit. Also, if necessary, the editing unit 61 records dataobtained by connecting clips recorded in the optical disc 21 inaccordance with the editing description data, as editing result clips ofcompleted packets, in another optical disc (not shown) or the like.

FIG. 17 is a diagram for describing non-destructive Assemble Edit whichthe editing unit 61 shown in FIG. 16 performs.

Note that in the example shown in FIG. 17, the clips #51 through #53 areclips obtained by shooting a baseball game wherein Nichiro, Matsuoka,and Fukuda, hit homeruns, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 17, the 2200'th frame of clip #51 has assigned theretoan essence mark indicating “Nichiro homerun”. Also, the 720'th frame ofclip #52 has assigned thereto an essence mark indicating “Matsuokahomerun”. Further, the 1150'th frame of clip #53 has assigned thereto anessence mark indicating “Fukuda homerun”.

In the event of creating a digest video including only the homerunscenes included in the clips #51 through #53, the user gives commandsfor specifying sections which are sub-clips #51 through #53 of the clips#51 through #53.

In the example in FIG. 17, first, the user specifies a section of around40 seconds in footage time, from the 1500'th frame to the 2800'th frameof the clip #51, as sub-clip #51, and gives a command to specify the0'th frame of the editing result as the in point.

The editing unit 61 generates editing description data representing thecontents of the Assemble Edit wherein the sub-clip #51 is taken as thedata from the 0'th frame of a single editing result clip #m, in responseto control signals corresponding to the command.

As shown in FIG. 17, at this time, the generating unit 42 newlygenerates an essence mark indicating “REC Start”, and assigns this as anediting result EM to the 0'th frame of the editing result clip #m, whichis the start position of the editing section specified by the user as anin point. Also, the generating unit 42 assigns, to the editing resultclip #m, the sub-clip EM indicating “Nichiro homerun” assigned to the700'th frame of the sub-clip #51, as an editing result EM with thecorresponding position on the editing result clip #m as the assignedposition thereof.

Next, the user specifies a section from the 500'th frame to the 1800'thframe of the clip #52, and gives a command to specify the 1300'th frame,i.e., the end position, of the editing result clip #m obtained by theimmediately prior Assemble Edit which serves as the clip to be edited,as the in point.

The editing unit 61 generates editing description data representing thecontents of the Assemble Edit wherein the sub-clip #52 is taken as thedata to be placed following the end position of the sub-clip #51 in theediting result clip #m. As shown in FIG. 17, at this time, thegenerating unit 42 newly generates a cut point EM indicating the startposition of the editing section, and assigns this as an editing resultEM to the 1300'th frame of the editing result clip #m, which is thestart position of the editing section specified by the user as an inpoint. Also, the generating unit 42 assigns, to the editing result clip#m, the sub-clip EM indicating “Matsuoka homerun” assigned to the 200'thframe of the sub-clip #52, as an editing result EM with thecorresponding position on the editing result clip #m as the assignedposition thereof.

Finally, the user specifies a section from the 50'th frame to the1350'th frame of the clip #53, and gives a command to specify the2600'th frame, i.e., the end position, of the editing result clip #mobtained by the immediately prior Assemble Edit which serves as the clipto be edited, as the in point.

As with the case of the sub-clip #52, the editing unit 61 generatesediting description data representing the contents of the Assemble Editwherein the sub-clip #53 is taken as the data to be placed following theend position of the sub-clip #52 in the editing result clip #m. As shownin FIG. 17, at this time, the generating unit 42 newly generates a cutpoint EM indicating the start position of the editing section, andassigns this as an editing result EM to the 2600'th frame of the editingresult clip #m, which is the start position of the editing sectionspecified by the user as an in point. Also, the generating unit 42assigns, to the editing result clip #m, the sub-clip EM indicating“Fukuda homerun” assigned to the 1100'th frame of the sub-clip #53, asan editing result EM with the corresponding position on the editingresult clip #m as the assigned position thereof.

As described above, with cases of performing non-destructive AssembleEdit as well, in the event that sub-clip EMs are already assigned to thesub-clips #51 through #53 to be edited, the generating unit 42 assignsthe sub-clip EMs to the position in the editing result clip #mcorresponding to the assigned positions thereof, as editing result EMs.Thus, sub-clip EMs already assigned to the sub-clips #51 through #53 tobe subjected to Assemble Edit can be succeeded in the editing resultclip #m obtained as a result of the editing.

Following the editing description data thus generated, the editing unit61 records the editing result obtained by serially connecting thesub-clip #51 through sub-clip #53 in a new optical disc, as acomplete-packet editing result clip #m. Thus, a digest video of only thehomerun scenes included in the clips #51 through 53 is recorded in thenew optical disc as the editing result clip #m. Also, the generatingunit 42 records the editing result EM data describing the editing resultEMs assigned to the editing result clip #m, in a manner correlated withthe editing result clip #m.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of editing description datagenerated by the editing unit 61 shown in FIG. 61 as the result of thenon-destructive Assemble Edit shown in FIG. 17.

Note that with the example shown in FIG. 18, the editing descriptiondata is described in a language similar to SMIL (Synchronized MultimediaIntegration Language). Also, the line numbers in FIG. 18 have been addedfor the sake of description, and are not a part of the language.

As shown in FIG. 18, description of the editing description data file isprimarily configured of a body portion defined by body tags (<body></body>). In the example in FIG. 18, the body portion is described inlines 3 through 5.

More specifically, descriptions defining the sub-clips in the order ofplayback are arrayed in the body portion. In the example in FIG. 18,description is made for the video element in line 3 regarding the clipto refer to and the section to take as a sub-clip. The description inline 3 of src=“Clip 51” means that the clip to refer to is clip #51.

The subsequent description in line 3 of clipBegin=“1500” indicates thestarting position of the section in clip #51 to take as the sub-clip#51, in terms of number of frames. Further, the subsequent descriptionin line 3 of clipEnd=“2800” indicates the ending position of the sectionin clip #51 to take as the sub-clip #51, in terms of number of frames.

Accordingly, in the example in FIG. 16, the editing description datadescribes to play the 1500'th frame through the 2800'th frame of theclip #51 as the sub-clip #51.

Also, description is made for the video element in line 4 to play the500'th frame through the 1800'th frame of the clip #52 as the sub-clip#52. Further, description is made for the video element in line 5 toplay the 50'th frame through the 1350'th frame of the clip #53 as thesub-clip #53. Description is made in the editing description list inFIG. 18 to play the above sub-clip #51 through sub-clip #53 in order.

Accordingly, the editing unit 61 plays the sub-clip #51 through sub-clip#53 in order in accordance with the editing description data shown inFIG. 18, and connects the sub-clip #51 through sub-clip #53 in the orderof playback and stores this in a new optical disc, whereby the editingresult clip #m can be recorded in a new optical disc.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of editing result EM datarecorded in a manner correlated with the editing result clip #m shown inFIG. 17.

Line 1 in FIG. 19 describes

targetEssence=“Clip m”

which indicates that this editing result EM data is editing result EMdata describing editing result EMs assigned to the editing result clip#m.

At line 2 in FIG. 19, the description

EssenceMark value=“REC Start” frameCount=“0”/

indicates that the characteristic indicated by the editing result EM is“REC Start”, and that the position of assigning thereof is the 0'thframe of the editing result clip #m.

At line 3 in FIG. 19, the description

EssenceMark value=“Nichiro homerun” frameCount=“700”/

indicates that the characteristic indicated by the editing result EM is“Nichiro homerun”, and that the position of assigning thereof is the700'th frame, i.e., the 700'th frame from the start of the sub-clip #51.

Further, line 4 in FIG. 19 has the description

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“1300”/

which indicates that the characteristic indicated by the editing resultEM is “cut point”, and that the position of assigning thereof is the1300'th frame, i.e., the in point specified by the user at the time ofAssemble Edit of the sub-clip #52.

At line 5 in FIG. 19, the description

EssenceMark value=“Matsuoka homerun” frameCount=“1520”/

indicates that the characteristic indicated by the editing result EM is“Matsuoka homerun”, and that the position of assigning thereof is the1520'th frame, i.e., the 220'th frame from the start of the sub-clip#52.

Further, line 6 in FIG. 19, has the description

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“2600”/

which indicates that the characteristic indicated by the editing resultEM is “cut point”, and that the position of assigning thereof is the2600'th frame, i.e., the in point specified by the user at the time ofAssemble Edit of the sub-clip #53.

At line 7 in FIG. 19, the description

EssenceMark value=“Fukuda homerun” frameCount=“3700”/

indicates that the characteristic indicated by the editing result EM is“Fukuda homerun”, and that the position of assigning thereof is the3700'th frame, i.e., the 1100'th frame from the start of the sub-clip#53.

Next, description will be made regarding the editing processing whereinthe editing processing unit 60 shown in FIG. 16 performs non-destructiveAssemble Edit or Insert Edit on a clip. This editing processing isstarted when a user specifies a clip to be edited, for example.

In step S61, in the same way as with step S31, the editing unit 61 takesdata of a desired section of a desired clip as a sub-clip, in responseto control signals corresponding to control signals supplied from thereception unit 45.

Following the processing in step S61, the flow proceeds to step S62,where in the same way as with step S32, the generating unit 42 generatesessence mark data of sub-clip EMs based on the essence mark data in theclip corresponding to the sub-clip.

Following the processing in step S62, the flow proceeds to step S63,where the editing unit 61 determines an in point based on the positionwithin the clip to be edited which has been specified by the user as anin point, and the flow proceeds to step S64.

The flow proceeds to step S64, where the editing unit 61 generatesediting description data based on the start position and end position ofthe section of the clip taken as a sub-clip, and on the in point. Forexample, in the case of performing the Assemble Edit shown in FIG. 17,the editing unit 61 generates editing description data describing

video src=“Clip 51” clipBegin=“1500” clipEnd=“2800”

at line 3 which is the first line of the body portion as shown in FIG.18, based on the 1500'th frame which is the start position of thesection of the clip #51 which is taken as the sub-clip #51, the 2800'thframe which is the end position thereof, and the 0'th frame which is thein point.

The processing in steps S65 and S66, steps S67 through S69, steps S70and 71, and steps S72 through 75, is the same as the processing in stepsS34 and S35, steps S37 through S39, steps S41 and 42, and steps S44through 47; accordingly, description thereof will be omitted.

Note that while description has been made regarding FIGS. 17 through 20that a clip itself is used to perform Insert Edit or Assemble Edit, butan arrangement may be made wherein Insert Edit or Assemble Edit isperformed using proxy data, wherein the bit rate of the clip has beenlowered.

Also, while the deleting unit 44 deletes all invalid EMs in the abovedescription, there are invalid EMs which are meaningful to be succeededin the editing result clip. For example, in the event that an invalid EMindicates the start position of a certain state as the characteristic,even if the data of that position is deleted by overwriting, the factthat the undeleted data is a continuation of that state can be indicatedby succession in the editing result clip.

Taking this into consideration, FIG. 21 shows editing processing in acase wherein invalid EMs, which are meaningful to be succeeded, are notdeleted. Note that in this case, succession information indicatingwhether or not to succeed to the editing result clip is added to theessence marks. This succession information is added to the essence markby the user giving a command at the time of assigning the essence markby specifying a desired position and characteristics of the video atthat position, for example.

The editing processing unit 80 shown in FIG. 21 is configured of theediting unit 41, deleting unit 44, reception unit 45, generating unit81, and detecting unit 82, and performs linear editing. Components thesame as those in FIG. 4 are denoted with the same reference numerals,and description thereof will be omitted.

The generating unit 81 takes characteristics indicated by invalid EMs towhich are assigned succession information representing succession in theediting result clip as characteristics at a particular position in theediting result clip, based on control signals supplied from thereception unit 45 and information for identifying invalid EMS suppliedfrom the detecting unit 82, and assigns essence marks indicating suchcharacteristics (hereafter referred to as “succession EM”) to theediting result clip as editing result EMS.

In the same way as with the generating unit 42 shown in FIG. 4, thegenerating unit 81 assigns editing clip EMs with no change to theediting result clip as editing result EMs, in response to controlsignals supplied from the reception unit 45. Also in the same way aswith the generating unit 42, the generating unit 81 assigns sub-clip EMSand cut point EMS to the editing result clip as editing result EMS, inresponse to control signals supplied from the reception unit 45.

Further, in the same way as with the generating unit 42, the generatingunit 81 generates editing result EMs as predetermined position EMS, inresponse to control signals corresponding to user operations at theinput unit 16, for specifying predetermined positions in the editingvideo supplied from the reception unit 45. Also, in the same way as withthe generating unit 42, the generating unit 81 generates editing resultEM data describing editing result EMs, and records this in a mannercorrelated with the editing result clip.

In the same way as with the detecting unit 43, the detecting unit 82detects, of the editing clip EMs other than the editing clip EMindicating the start position of the clip to be edited that aredescribed in the editing clip EM data of the clip to be edited, editingclip EMs indicating the characteristics of the video corresponding tothe editing section, as invalid EMS, in response to control signalssupplied from the reception unit 45. The detection unit 82 suppliesinformation for identifying the detected invalid EMs to the deletingunit 44 and generating unit 81.

Next, Insert Edit performed by the editing unit 41 shown in FIG. 21, andthe editing result EM data generated by the generating unit 81 inconjunction therewith, will be described with reference to FIGS. 22 and23.

An example will be described in FIG. 22 where the clip #5 shown in FIG.5 is the clip to be edited, with Insert Edit being performed of asub-clip #71 thereto. Here, in the clip #5, succession informationindicating succession to the editing result clip is added to the editingclip EM indicating “top of the second inning”, and successioninformation indicating no succession to the editing result clip is addedto the editing clips EM indicating “Nichiro to batter's box” and“Nichiro homerun”.

These will be distinguished in the following as follows. Let us say thatthere is an editing clip EM “j”. An editing clip EM to which successioninformation indicating succession to the editing result clip has beenadded, will be prefixed with an underscore “_”, i.e., will be written as“_j”. On the other hand, an editing clip EM to which successioninformation indicating no succession to the editing result clip has beenadded, will be written simply as “j”.

As shown in FIG. 22, upon the user specifying a section of the clip #71of 500 frames to take as the sub-clip #71, and specifying the 0'th frameof the clip #5 as an in point, the editing unit 41 takes the sectionbetween the 0'th frame and 500'th frame of the clip #5 as an editingsection, overwrites the editing section with the sub-clip #71, and takesthe data obtained as a result thereof as an editing result clip #k. Notethat in the example in FIG. 22, no sub-clip EM has been assigned to thesub-clip #71.

Of the editing clip EMs other than the editing clip EM indicating “RECStart”, the detecting unit 82 detects the editing clip EM indicating“_top of the second inning” assigned to the 10'th frame, and the editingclip EM indicating “Nichiro to batter's box” assigned to the 300'thframe, which are positions within the section between the 0'th frame andthe 500'th frame which is the editing section, and supplies informationfor identifying the invalid EMs to the deleting unit 44 and generatingunit 81.

The generating unit 81 newly generates cut point EMs to be assigned tothe start position and end position of the editing section, and assignsthese as editing result EMs to the editing result clip #k. Note that inthis case, the position specified as the in point is the 0'th frame, towhich position the editing clip EM indicating “REC Start” is succeeded,so generating and assigning of a cut point EM for the start position ofthe editing section is omitted. Also, the generating unit 81 assigns theediting clip EMS indicating “REC Start”, “_top of the second inning”,“Nichiro to batter's box”, and “Nichiro homerun”, that have beenassigned to the clip #5, without change to the editing result clip #k asediting result EMs.

Further, based on information for identifying invalid EMs from thedetecting unit 82, the generating unit 81 effects succession of thecharacteristic “_top of the second inning” which the invalid EM attachedwith succession information representing succession to the editingresult clip indicates, as the characteristic of the position in theediting result clip #k corresponding to the end position of the editingsection, and assigns the succession EM indicating “_top of the secondinning” to the editing result clip #k as an editing result EM. That isto say, the succession EM indicating “_top of the second inning” isassigned to the 500'th frame, which is the end position of the editingsection.

Thus, at the editing processing unit 80, the invalid EM indicating “_topof the second inning”, attached with succession information representingsuccession to the editing result clip, is succeeded in the editingresult clip #k as a succession EM, so the user can use the succession EMto know that the data following the position where the succession EM hasbeen assigned is data obtained as a result of shooting the top of thesecond inning of the baseball game, or later. Consequently, the user caneasily view video (including audio) of the top of the second inning ofthe baseball game and later, for example, by instructing playback of thesuccession EM of the clip #k and later, recorded in the optical disc 21.

The deleting unit 44 deletes description of invalid EMs from the editingresult EM data, based on information of r identifying invalid EMs fromthe detecting unit 82.

As described above, the clip #k which is editing results, is assignedwith the editing result EMs of the cut point EM indicating “REC Start”which is assigned to the 0'th frame, the cut point EM indicating “cutpoint” and the succession EM indicating “_top of the second inning”which is assigned to the 500'th frame, and the editing clip EMindicating “Nichiro homerun” which is assigned to the 1500'th frame. Theediting result EM data describing these editing result EMs is shown inFIG. 23.

Line 1 in FIG. 23 describes

targetEssence=“Clip k”

which indicates that this editing result EM data is editing result EMdata describing editing result EMs assigned to the editing result clip#k.

At line 2 in FIG. 23, the description

EssenceMark value=“REC Start” frameCount=“0”/

indicates that the characteristic indicated by the editing result EM is“REC Start”, and that the position of assigning thereof is the 0'thframe of the editing result clip #k.

At line 3 in FIG. 23, the description

EssenceMark value=“_top of the second inning”

frameCount=“500”/

indicates that the characteristic indicated by the editing result EM is“top of the second inning”, and that the position of assigning thereofis the 500'th frame from the start, i.e., the ending position of theediting section. Also, the underscore “_” in the “_top of the secondinning” which is the value of the attribute EssenceMark value indicatesthat this is a succession EM to which succession information,representing succession to the editing result clip, has been added.

At line 4 in FIG. 23, the description

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“500”/

indicates that the characteristic indicated by the editing result EM is“cut point”, and that the position of assigning thereof is the 500'thframe from the start, i.e., the ending position of the editing section.

Further, at line 5 in FIG. 23, the description

EssenceMark value=“Nichiro homerun” frameCount=“1500”/

indicates that the characteristic indicated by the editing result EM is“Nichiro homerun”, and that the position of assigning thereof is the1500'th frame from the start.

Next, the editing processing wherein the editing processing unit 80shown in FIG. 21 performs Assemble Edit or Insert Edit on a clip will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 24. This editing processing is startedupon a clip to be edited being specified by the user, for example.

The processing of step S91 through step S101 is the same as theprocessing of step S31 through step S41 in FIG. 15, so descriptionthereof will be omitted.

In step S102, the generating unit 81 inserts description of thesuccession EM assigned to the end position of the editing section, to aposition in the essence mark table portion of the editing clip EM datarecorded in a manner correlated with the clip to be edited thatcorresponds to the end position of the editing section, based oninformation for identifying invalid EMs from the detecting unit 82.

The processing of step S103 through step S106 is the same as theprocessing of step S42 through step S45 in FIG. 15, so descriptionthereof will be omitted.

In the same way as with step S102, in step S107 the generating unit 81inserts description of the succession EM assigned to the end position ofthe editing section, to a position in the essence mark table portion ofthe editing clip EM data recorded in a manner correlated with the clipto be edited that corresponds to the end position of the editingsection, based on information for identifying invalid EMs from thedetecting unit 82.

For example, in the case of performing the Insert Edit shown in FIG. 22,the generating unit 81 assigns, of the invalid EMs, the invalid EMindicating “_top of second inning” to which succession informationrepresenting succession in the editing result clip has been attached, tothe 500'th frame which is the end position of the editing section, as asuccession EM. Also, the generating unit 81 describes the succession EMdescription

EssenceMark value=“_top of the second inning”

frameCount=“500”/

immediately before the

EssenceMark value=“cut point” frameCount=“500”/

which is the position of the essence mark table portion of the editingclip EM data corresponding to the end position of the editing section.

The processing of step S108 and step S109 is the same as the processingof step S46 and step S47 in FIG. 15, so description thereof will beomitted.

While description has been made above that the generating unit 81assigns all invalid EMs to which succession information indicatingsuccession in the editing result clip, as succession EMs, an arrangementmay be made wherein, in the event that there are multiple invalid EMs towhich succession information indicating succession in the editing resultclip, only that assigned the position closest to the end position of theediting section is assigned as a succession EM.

Also, an arrangement may be made wherein, instead of the user assigningsuccession information at the time of creating an essence mark, thedeleting unit 44 prompts the user on whether to delete the invalid EM,at the time of deleting invalid EMs.

Also, while with the above description, cut point EMs are the onlynewly-generated essence marks, but in the event of a user specifying adesired position, and characteristics of the video at that potion, whileediting, a desired position EM is also newly generated. Thus, the usercan use a desired position EM following editing to view video and listento audio.

Also, while the position of essence marks has been represented in termsof frames from the start of the clip with the above-descried embodiment,any information can be used to represent this, as long as frames can beuniquely identified. For example, the position of essence marks can bebeen represented in terms of time code.

Further, essence mark data has been described as separately describingclips and essence marks, but an arrangement may be made wherein essencemark information is included in the clip.

It should be noted that the steps describing the program stored in theprogram recording medium may of course be executed in the time-sequencedescribed, but this is not restricted to being executed in the describedtime-sequence, and may be executed in parallel or individually.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

1. An editing apparatus for performing editing in which a second videois added to or inserted into a first video, said apparatus comprising:an editing unit performing said editing; a generating unit generating afirst electronic mark indicating characteristics of said first video, asan edited video electronic mark, which is an electronic mark indicatingcharacteristics of an edited video obtained as the result of saidediting; a detecting unit detecting, of said first electronic marks, afirst electronic mark indicating characteristics of a first videocorresponding to an editing section, as an invalid electronic mark; anda deleting unit deleting said invalid electronic mark from said editedvideo electronic marks.
 2. The editing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein said generating unit further generates a second electronic markindicating characteristics of said second video, as said edited videoelectronic mark.
 3. The editing apparatus according to claim 1, whereinsaid generating unit further generates a section electronic mark whichis an electronic mark indicating at least one of a start position andend position of said editing section as characteristics of said editedvideo, as said edited video electronic mark.
 4. The editing apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising a reception unit receivingoperations to specify a desired position for said edited video by auser; wherein said generating unit generates a desired positionelectronic mark which is an electronic mark indicating characteristicsof said edited video at said desired position, as said edited videoelectronic mark, in response to said operations.
 5. The editingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first electronic mark hasadded thereto succession information representing whether or not firstelectronic mark is to be succeeded in the edited video; and wherein saidgenerating unit effects succession of the characteristics indicated by,of said invalid electronic marks, an invalid mark to which successioninformation representing succession in the edited video has been added,as characteristics at a predetermined position of said edited video, andgenerates a succession electronic mark indicating the characteristics assaid edited video electronic mark.
 6. An editing method of an editingapparatus for performing editing in which a second video is added to orinserted into a first video, said method comprising the steps of:performing said editing; generating a first electronic mark indicatingcharacteristics of said first video, as an edited video electronic mark,which is an electronic mark indicating characteristics of an editedvideo obtained as the result of said editing; detecting, of said firstelectronic marks, a first electronic mark indicating characteristics ofa first video corresponding to an editing section, as an invalidelectronic mark; and deleting said invalid electronic mark from saidedited video electronic marks.
 7. A program for causing a computer toexecute editing processing in which a second video is added to orinserted into a first video, said program comprising the steps of:performing said editing; generating a first electronic mark indicatingcharacteristics of said first video, as an edited video electronic mark,which is an electronic mark indicating characteristics of an editedvideo obtained as the result of said editing; detecting, of said firstelectronic marks, a first electronic mark indicating characteristics ofa first video corresponding to an editing section, as an invalidelectronic mark; and deleting said invalid electronic mark from saidedited video electronic marks.